Sun scores with NSW government

Sun Microsystems has signed a four-year contract with the New South Wales government which allows government agencies to purchase the company's software products without having to undergo their own tendering process.

The contract allows the purchase of a range of products, including the office productivity suite, StarOffice, and the entire Sun Java System - aa fully integrated client environment based on open source components and industry standards, including:

GNOME desktop environment

StarOffice Office Productivity Suite

Mozilla browser

Evolution mail and calendar

Java 2 Standard Edition, and

a Linux operating system.

Robert Wheeler, deputy director-general, Information and Communications Technology at the NSW Department of Commerce, said: "With all the rigorous due diligence carried out by the Department of Commerce, the hard work has already been done for agencies and costs have been reduced for the supplier."

He said the contract also brought a new level of competition to the desktop market. "It provides government agencies with an avenue to purchase open source software products," he said.

Jim Hassell, Sun's Australasia managing director, said a number of government agencies were testing StarOffice and other Sun software products, and the feedback to date was all very positive.

"The new contract will allow for greater choice and competition in the government arena," he said.